


Retribution

by facesplosion



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akechi Goro Lives, Akechi redemption arc, Depression, I guess - Not sure though, Just one so far but i'll put warnings i forgot, Panic Attacks, Persona 5 Spoilers, Redemption, Rehabilitation, Self-Acceptance, Self-Hatred
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-06 03:11:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14632869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/facesplosion/pseuds/facesplosion
Summary: By some cruel twist of fate, Akechi woke up.How is it possible to make up for the sins of the past?Spoilers for basically the entire game, but mainly for the seventh palace.





	1. The Death Of Goro Akechi

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first hard-core fic in a very long time. I hope y'all enjoy.  
> Tear me apart in the comments, I live off constructive feedback.
> 
> Planning on updating this fortnightly, every second Sunday. Feel free to throw things at me if that doesn't happen.

The first thing that Akechi felt was pain, which was unsurprising - getting shot typically hurts, or so he’s heard. It was the next feeling, the presence of a cold, hard stone wall behind his back that surprised him. Although, as this was his first time dying, he didn’t know what the afterlife felt like, so he decided to just accept it as he lay, limply propped up against the uncomfortable surface.

After a few more seconds, he began to notice the sounds of car horns and conversation. The sounds of a bustling city bringing him further out of his apparent unconsciousness. By some amazing miracle or great curse - he was alive. Battered, sore and tired, but alive.

Fighting against the searing headache that ripped through his brain, he opened his eyes slowly, trying to adjust to the darkness around him. Seconds passed and his surroundings grew clearer, revealing a filthy alleyway. A self deprecating chuckle escaped his lips. It suited him well. Maybe he’d just stay here and rot away. He’d deserve it.

What he deserved was to be dead. When he had stared down the barrel of that gun, right into the eyes of his own shadow. He’d thought that it was the end. He had come to terms with it. Accepted it in those few brief moments of the decision. If he could save the others maybe his life would have achieved more than destruction and chaos. Maybe he could atone in some small way - at the price of his life, however worthless it was.

Maybe this was the universe saying that he still needed punishment. Death wasn’t enough to fix his many, many mistakes. He still had to suffer - death was an easy escape and he didn’t deserve it. He felt for his phone in his pocket, which turned out to be remarkably unscathed, even though his clothes were dirty and partially ripped. He thought of calling the police, but paused, knowing that if he did so he would be let off, and then forced back into Shido’s grasp. 

He couldn’t contact any of the phantom thieves either. They were so eager to forgive him in the palace. They wouldn’t punish him - not in the way he deserved to be punished. He thought desperately to who he would be able to contact, thinking through his acquaintances, his superiors, his colleagues, his- wait. Sae Niijima. She was the one who had interviewed Akira before Akechi was supposed to murder him, perhaps she’d understand why he had to be punished. She’d listened to Akira. Maybe she’d listen to him.

His hands shook as he dialed the number. His limbs not quite remembering how to move correctly, even though he hadn’t been unconscious that long - as far as he could tell. After a few rings, the call was picked up with a small click.

“Akechi?” came the confused voice of the prosecutor.

“Yeah. It’s me,” he replied, voice rough.

“But I was told you were- where are you?”

He looked around him, trying to discern any clues of where he was, but to no avail.

“I don’t know. An alleyway. Most likely near the Diet Building.”

“Okay. I’ll come find you. Wait there.”

“But I need to-”

“There will be time to talk when I get there,” interrupted Sae, voice flat and businesslike, as it always was. “Just don’t move.”

“Don’t- don’t tell anyone.”

There was a pause, a deafening silence as she thought about it for a few moments.

“Okay. You better talk when I get there.” 

Akechi slumped back, barely mustering up enough energy to grunt half heartedly. His punishment was coming. And instead of making him wary like it would for literally anyone else in his situation, he was content.

He deserved every bit of what was coming to him.

 

***

 

The clicking of heels coming down the hard concrete of the alley floor brought Akechi out of his daze. Opening eyes he wasn’t even aware he had closed, he looked up to see Sae Niijima standing over him, arms crossed and face full of an expression he had never seen cross her face before. Concern. 

“You look horrendous,” she commented. “Although, you look pretty good for someone who is supposed to be dead.”

Akechi let out a humorless chuckle.

“I guess the Phantom Thieves have informed you of what happened.”

“My sister filled me in. However, I haven’t told her about this new development yet.”

He grimaced.

“Please don’t. Don’t tell any of them.”

“And why not? From what I’ve heard, you’ve more than proved that you are willing to change and make up for what you did. You already have in some senses.”

“That’s exactly why I can’t. They’ll let me off too easily. And if you know the full story you know why that can’t happen. I need to- I need to face the consequences of my actions. You’re the only one I know who has the power to do that.”

Sae nodded thoughtfully. 

“If that is what you think you deserve. But Akechi cannot be punished. You’re too much of a public figure. People will wonder what is going on. They’ll panic.”

“Then I’ll become someone else. Goro Akechi is dead.”

“If you truly feel as though this is the best course of action, I will assist you. First, come with me.”

Akechi grabbed the offered hand to help him up, and winced as his body fought against him. His body was heavy, and it felt as though he hadn’t moved in a long time. 

“How long has it been?” he asked, curiosity forcing the words out of his mouth.

“It’s been two days since you ‘died.’ The palace has been destroyed. Today actually. We’re currently waiting for Shido’s change of heart.”

Two days? There was no way he had been unconscious for so long - especially not in such a public space. How had he not been found? Why was he not dead? Why was he here? Each bit of information lead to a dozen new questions. It was making his headache just that much worse by every passing second. 

“We’re dealing with forces we don’t understand, me less than you. Anything that happens in relation to that… world, we can’t know the reason. For all we know, it’s fate. Or some other power. I’ve never been the religious type, but after all that’s happened this year, it’s making me wonder,” said Sae, sensing the teenager’s confusion. “I think it’s best to just not question things.”

 

***

 

They arrived at a run down apartment complex and Akechi followed blindly as Sae led him into the elevator, pushing buttons that he didn’t bother to take note of and waiting in silence as they began their ascent.

“An old friend owes me a favor, so he let me use one of his empty apartments. You’ll be staying here while I get everything ready,” Sae explained, the silence proving to be too much for her to bear.

Akechi grunted in response, staring blankly at the wall of the elevator, unable to find the energy to do anything else. The elevator eventually came to a stop, and they got out, Sae pulling out some keys and opening one of the many doors in the long hallway.

They stepped into a fairly dilapidated apartment that had very clearly not been used in quite some time. It was furnished with a faded couch and a particularly uncomfortable looking bed - not that Akechi cared all that much - and it had a small kitchenette in one corner, a stool pushed up against a counter acting as a dining table. 

“I’ll leave you here while I get some things from the store. I’ll call my sister and tell her I’m working late again. Just stay here and don’t do anything rash, okay?” her last sentence was punctuated by yet another worried look sent his way, as though she thought he was at risk. It was a laughable concern really - If the universe didn’t deem him worthy of death, who was he to fight it?

He nodded weakly, sitting firmly on the couch and resuming his blank staring.

 

***

 

When Sae returned several hours later, he still hadn’t moved from his place on the couch. She had several plastic bags, all looking like they’d come from different stores. She placed the majority of the bags on the floor by the door, taking one over to the bed and spreading it’s contents - blankets and pillows - across it. Then she took something out of the next bag and passed it to him. 

It was warm, the shock of the sensation forcing Akechi to take note, realising that it was some hot take away ramen. His stomach growling at the smell, he took the chopsticks into his hands and began to eat it - almost on autopilot. His mind had never been so numb. 

Sae chuckled.

“You must have really been hungry,” she commented, eliciting no response from the teen.

After he finished his meal, Sae led him to sit on the stool. Pulling some more items out of the bags, she placed them on the counter, scissors and black hair dye.

“We’re going to need to change your appearance for your new identity to work.”

Another grunt was barely heard as Sae began work on his hair, long tawny brown locks falling to the wooden floor like a snakes old skin, left behind as remnants of the person he once was. 

By the time Akechi had stepped out of the shower at the end of the dyeing process and gotten dressed into the clothes that Sae had given him - which were a lot more casual than his usual attire, with a baggy hoodie and sweatpants - he looked like an entirely different person.

His usual mop of hair was gone, replaced by a much shorter, messy black haircut. The new clothes gave him a thug-like character, making him look less like a refined boy detective and more like a juvenile high school delinquent. It was a strange feeling, looking in the mirror and having a complete stranger stare back at you, but that was the entire point of all of this. If he could fool himself into thinking he was a different person, perhaps he could fool the rest of the world.

And perhaps then he’d be able to be punished for all his crimes.

He stepped back into the main room of the apartment, Sae looking up from where she sat at the counter, a book in her hands.

“I’m glad to see that it worked. You look like a complete stranger.”

Akechi nodded in the same tired way that he had been since he had woken up. Sae held up her book, revealing it to be a baby name book that she’d presumably picked up while running her errands.

“I’ve been looking for a new name for you. I think I’ve found it,” she said, gesturing for him to come closer. “Arata. It means new. Rather fitting don’t you think?”

Arata. A new beginning. A chance for him to be born again through his punishment. 

“Arata Sasaki,” he said, voice solid with his determination.

“Is that who you want to be?” asked Sae, grabbing a pen and paper she’d been using to take notes.

Akechi nodded, hesitantly at first, but growing stronger as he made his final resolve.

With the few quick movements of Sae’s pen on the paper, Goro Akechi was dead. In his place stood a new person. An undeserved second chance. Arata Sasaki, the boy who was born at age seventeen.


	2. Unpayable Debts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akechi - now Arata - finishes his punishment and tries to cope with the brand new world.
> 
> WARNING: there's a panic attack in this one so if you can't cope, I suggest skipping the ice cream shop scene when you come to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is shorter than I would have liked. But, today's the day so here it is!  
> I hope you Enjoy!

Arata never thought he’d see the day that he’d see the outside of the concrete walls of the Osaka Juvenile Detention Center, but now that he was there - on the outside, after two long years - it was overwhelming. He was finally standing on the other side of those concrete walls that had hidden the world for so long.

It was a bittersweet moment. As much as he had longed for freedom, deep in his heart he knew he didn’t deserve it. No amount of jail time could repair the damage he’d caused to the world. But there he was, standing on the other side after two years of punishment, as ready to face the world as he’d ever be - that is to say, not at all.

A familiar silver car pulled up, and Sae stepped out. Attire as classy and formal as it had ever been.

“I suppose you’ve already been checked out. I made sure to send your paperwork in advance so there would be no trouble.

Arata nodded, adjusting the bag of his few remaining belongings on his shoulder. 

“Good. I’ve already set up a place for you back in Tokyo. Hopefully you’ll be able to adjust quickly,” says Sae, moving to open the boot of the vehicle for him and placing his small bag inside.

Arata frown at the woman, guilt swelling up in his chest.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

Sae smiles at him from over the car, by the drivers door.

“I know. I wanted to. You deserve a second chance, Akech- well, I suppose I should call you Sasaki now. Or Arata, if you’d prefer.”

Arata shrugged, sliding into the passenger seat of the car, and began to stare out of the window blankly as the car started and pulled away from the institution. 

That was how he spent the rest of the ride, Sae trying and failing to start up several conversations with the young adult as the silence took over the long, long car ride.

***

When they finally pulled up to the location of apartment that Sae had organised for him, the sun had long set. From the outside the complex didn’t look half as shabby as the one he had been in before Juvie, but it was hard to discern any distinctive features about the building in the dark. It just seemed to be a large, looming shape above him. Just as intimidating as the thought of a brand new life. 

They rode the elevator to the fourth floor, and Sae unlocked one of the doors. Compared to the last apartment he’d been in, this one looked like a palace. It was a one room apartment, but was fairly spacious - fitting a couch, a small kitchen, a double bed and even a small dining table. 

It was far too nice for him.

“This is an investment. I won’t charge you rent until you’ve gotten on your feet, but once you get a job, you can start paying rent and living by your own means,” Sae explained. “Eventually, I’ll have made a profit, so don’t go feeling as though you owe me anything. This is beneficial to the both of us. Plus, I can check on you. Make sure you’re okay.”

Arata nodded numbly, grateful that he didn’t just have to sit there and take kindness he didn’t deserve. He would have a chance to give back - that is, if he was ever able to pick up the pieces of his broken sense of self and put them towards something that actually aided society. As opposed to tearing it apart slowly with his bare hands.

“Well, you get settled in. I’ve already provided bedding and food for your first week at least. I’ll be back in the morning to take you shopping for some clothes and other necessities.”

“Y-you didn’t have to do this. You could have just left me to fend for myself. I would have deserved it,” said Arata, finally finding his voice.

“How many times do I have to say that it was my own decision. Besides, you didn’t deserve anything that happened to you before now. You deserve some kindness in your life. Just remember to pay it forward,” explained Sae with an uncharacteristically soft smile. He briefly wondered if she had always been like this or if she had really changed since meeting the phantom thieves - just like everyone else that crossed paths with them. “Well then, I’ll be leaving. The phone works, and I’ve written my number down next to it. Call me if you need anything.”

With that, Sae was gone, the gentle closing of the door being the last sound before the apartment was plunged into a thick silence. Dumping his bag on the floor, Arata grabbed a small snack out of the fridge, eating more out of obligation to Sae to look after himself than out of real hunger. He wandered over to the couch, and sat there for what felt like an age, just staring into space. 

After a long time, he finally turned out the light, and lay down on the couch to sleep.

The bed was too big for now.

***

Arata was woken by a loud knock at the door. Blinking against strong light that consciousness suddenly made him aware of, he rolled over, and onto the floor. He groaned, running his hands through his unkempt hair has he tried to make sense of what was up, what was down, and where the hell he was. His body ached all over and he could barely think over the blinding headache that could only have been caused by the light that was breaking in through the uncovered window.

Confused and disoriented, he made his way to the source of the knocking, pulling open the door to the apartment he had forgotten he was in. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you- did you sleep in your clothes?” Sae said, looking him up and down. “I could have sworn there were some sleep clothes I had provided among your belongings.”

He shrugged, not quite awake enough to formulate words. He stepped aside to let her in, closing the door behind her as she bustled into the - his - apartment. On her way in, she eyed the unused bed, looking back at him with concern. 

“You slept on the couch?”

Another shrug, drawing a sigh from the woman.

“Please take care of yourself, Arata. I know you don’t feel you deserve comforts, but you’ve suffered enough. Don’t hurt yourself.”

He nodded half-heartedly. If Sae wanted him to - he’d do it to give her peace of mind. She shouldn’t have to worry just because he refused to take care of himself properly like some sort of invalid.

“Right. Now, let’s go, shall we? We’ll have breakfast while we’re out. We have a lot of shopping to do.”

***

Wandering through the streets of Tokyo was not something that Arata would have imagined himself ever doing again. It was too normal. Sae lead him through the shops, helping him to pick out clothes and other items for his apartment. He had never been so aware of price tags in his life. He counted every cent, totalling up all the kindness he could never possibly pay back - not even if he managed to return all the money. Bags full of debt that threatened to swallow him whole. 

Sae, on the other hand seemed to be enjoying the whole experience far too much. For what reason, Arata couldn’t possibly think to decipher. She grinned as she pulled a snapback from one of the many racks in one of the stores. Holding it up in front of his face, as if to see if it would fit, her grin only grew wider.

“Yes. This one is perfect. We’re getting it.”

Curious, Arata took the hat from her, turning it to reveal golden letters running across the front.

HERO

What a perfect irony.

“I appreciate your sense of humor, but is this really necessary?”

“What humor. I make no jokes. This is merely to remind you of who you can become - now that you have been blessed with a second chance.”

Arata scoffed.

“I know you don’t see it yet, but you can change to be a better person. To make the world better. You already have changed. You just need to keep going.”

“I don’t feel like a better person.”

“No one ever does. Now, how about we check out these clothes and get some ice cream? We deserve a break.”

They wandered out of the store with their purchases, and down the street. The ice cream place that Sae insisted they enter was a humble little establishment with a comforting feel to its used couches and worn tables.

They sat in silence, eating the sugary treat, a television blaring the news in the background. Everything was fine.

Until he heard his name. His old name. Coming from the television set.

It has been two years since the boy detective Goro Akechi officially went missing. No further information has been found towards his recovery, and police are concerned that the case will not-

Arata’s hands were shaking. Veins feeling like they were fizzling. His throat clenched, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Arata, are you okay?” Sae’s voice could barely be heard over his own thoughts, which were unintelligible, but loud, oh so loud. He felt his hands being grabbed, pulled down from where he had apparently placed them on his head. “Look at me Arata. Look at me. Open your eyes.”

He forced his eyes open to see Sae, with the same concerned look she’d had when she realised that he’d slept on the couch on her face.

“You’re safe. It’s alright. Take deep breaths.”

Arata did not feel alright, but he obeyed the command regardless, inhaling slowly in an attempt to calm either himself, or Sae. He couldn’t tell which. Eventually, his heart slowed to a less alarming rate, he could hear the bustle of the city outside the window, and his hands had stopped shaking - barely.

Feeling numb, he let himself be dragged out of the shop and into the big city, which seemed louder and more intrusive with every passing second. He didn’t pay attention to where they were going, just hoped that it was anywhere but there. Leaving was the only option. He had to escape - even if he didn’t deserve it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Feel free to leave your criticism, positive and negative, in a comment.  
> See you in a fortnight!


End file.
